New hobby unlocked: Hiking and Wild Camping

My ongoing journey of adulting has led me to some delightful areas that seem to resurrect mnay parts of my childhood. Who would have guessed that the world of hiking and wild camping would capture my heart? It all began with a curious twist of fate when I joined a medieval reenactment group (More on that in a future post!). My quest for knowledge about crafting bows pulled me down the YouTube rabbit hole, unveiling a treasure trove of bushcraft and wild camping videos. Memories of my youthful escapades in the outdoors, hitting the Lochs and rivers , fishing rod in hand, or walking home with friends through woodland pretending to be Rangers from Dungeons and Dragons, or Baldur's Gate.

In this digital wilderness, I chanced upon a band of exceptional YouTube adventurers whose content I feel compelled to share with you:

• WildBeare's Channel
• MyLifeOutdoors' Channel
• FitforAdventure's Channel
• HazeOutdoors' Channel

Yet among this band of intrepid content creators, a particular spark ignited my enthusiasm like no other – WildBeare. Her videos have an uncanny ability to plaster a grin across my face, no matter the circumstances. 😄

So, let's talk about the recent escapades that have infused my summer with the spirit of adventure. Picture this: traversing the Scottish North Coast 500, my trusty campsite a wild patch of heaven; or nestled within Wales' Snowdonia National Park, the very essence of nature's majesty surrounding me; and just this past weekend, finding myself beneath the open skies in the embrace of the Ochill mountain range near Stirling, Scotland.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, without further ado, allow me to share a few snapshots from my summer adventures:

My journey into the realm of adulthood has become an enchanting tapestry woven with threads of nostalgia and newfound passions. Stay tuned for more tales of adventure, as I continue to explore the wonders of the world around us. Until then, remember to embrace your inner adventurer and let your spirit roam free! 🌄🏞️🏕️

Sunday Sessions: Star Wars Roleplay - Introduction

As I have done in the past (to an extent, for my D&D campaign) - I intend to bring my Sunday night gaming groups gaming sessions to life on paper (pixel!). Assuming everything is cool with the Game's Master of the Star Wars game my mate Chris (yes, the same one I play Warhammer 40k with) then I should be able to bring the epic tales of the journey of the groups characters to life.

The Game: Star Wars
Time Setting: Around the same time as the original Star Wars games (Second galactic empire?)

The rules set for this game is a hybrid between the new star wars games, and the old D6 system. The game will run using the D6 system for determining the results of actions, and the character sheet I think is from the newer version of the game.

Who is in the party? As the game progresses players are introduced, or disappear, but here is a list of characters to date:

Velk (myself, naturally) - A human bounty hunter. Specialist skills include finding things, and killing things. Force Sensitive. Formerly working for the empire, eventually switched allegiances and is now attempting to gain entry to the Rebellion.

Padme (the Mrs) - A human smuggler, good with roguey type things and fighter ship piloting. She is basically a cross between Han solo and Mal from FireFly. Not Force Sensitive. She is brought to the fold with the rest of the group in an attempt to gain entry to the Rebellion

Evic - A human techy type. Very good with the technical skills and specialises in Capital ship Piloting. Force Sensitive.

Spikes McGee - Human explosives expert. Very good at blowing things up. Force Sensitive.


Amme - Human Jedi Force Sensitive (duh). Amme is a Jedi that has not undergone complete training. Her master was slain before it was possible to complete her training, and as such, she only knows a limited amount about being a Jedi, she is however a very good swordsman and brandishes her defeated masters faulty light sabre in the defence of those around her, and those that she can assist. She seeks access to the rebellion in hopes of gaining their protection, and continuing her training with or without a Jedi Master.

And so the journey begins... at a Hyperspace gateway into the Cardonir sector...

A luxury cruise liner hyperspaces into the system, laying claims to the Imperial Star Destroyer at this outpost that it is returning rich dignitaries to their home worlds. Issuing some aged pass codes, it is allowed to pass. the cruise liner alters its course to hyperspace deeper into the system and re-enters hyperspace.

A couple of hours into the jump, the ship rocks violently to a halt, its primary Hyper Drives tortured screams echoing through the ship as it is ripped from hyperspace by a large gravity well directly in its path.

Aboard the bridge, Evic and the ship commander look out upon a large asteroid, and a Marauder Corvette that looms overhead that latches on a tractor beam and haules the cruise liner into its hold for the inhabitants to claim the ships booty...

More to come
-V

D&D Campaign: The seal of Akatiel: 17th April

After running this session all I can say is: Epic dragon aerial battle encounters are HARD to choreograph!

Clutched in the massive claws of Chorgallon, the party ascends higher and higher into the sky. From the dragon well below, they see a stream of Huge Black Dragons spewing forth. Each has a cultist of some form riding them - except for 5 that appear riderless. They also see 2 red, 2 blue and 2 green dragons flying in from over the mountain from different directions to join them. Ahead over the horizon they can make out the rapidly closing group of metallic dragons approaching.

Chorgallon places the party members gently onto the backs of the riderless black dragons, where they find a makeshift harness/saddle in place that they can fix themselves to, and a large quiver filled with various colours of Javelins. Red, Blue, White, Green and a single Gold. It is clear what all Javelines represent with the exception of the Gold one, Edgar detects conjuration magic on it, and whilst contemplating Joe says "Hey, big wormy dude! Whats the gold one for!" to which Chorgallon responds: "Its for healing. Hit a target with it and it will restore them to full health. He informs them to be cautious with their selection to use in combat as they can only conjure a specific number of them at a time, and there may be benefits of using certain javelines on certain dragons, or in certain combinations for extra damage.

Edgar starts buffing party members up. Rapidly approaching they can make out 6 Bronze Dragons, and 3 Silver, copper, Brass and Gold Dragons. One Gold Dragon is significantly larger than the others and parts off to the flank from the rest of the force. Chorgallon splits off to intercept: One of one combat will commence.

The party advances towards the enemy, throwing javelines of Fire, Lightening, Cold and Acid at the enemy - starting with a gold dragon, between them and the rest of their force, they manage to kill it, and their combined energy rays and javelines from the metallic dragons forces takes out two of the Black Dragons, who start to desintegrate with the energies hitting them and fall from the sky, to impact with a hefty squelchy thud into the swampland a mile below. The party advances once more, Evictus raising his sword up and decapitating a dragon as his mount bites, claws, and lashes at it with its tail and wings, and the dragon cohorts charge forth into an aerial Melee, tearing a couple of the Bronze Dragons out of the sky. One by one dragons are falling from the sky on both sides, as our party guides their dragons around the aerial battlescape. They gang up on anyone loose from the pack tearing them to shreds.

Off to the side the Great Wyrms do battle - behind them, silhouetted against the clouds two ghostly visages can be made out. Behind the black dragon is the 5-headed dragon: Tiamat the chromatic dragon Godess, and behind the gold dragon there is Behamut, the Platinum Dragon god, and father of Tiamat. The Colossal Gold Dragon grips Chorgallon in its claws and rips its wings from its body, discarding them as the great Black Dragon plummets towards the earth. Joe steers his mount into a dive and hurls his Golden Javeline of healing at Chorgallon, healing him as he impacts the ground. He stands up having survived the impact to survey the swamp. In the clouds above, the Metallic Dragons retreat at the site of Chorgallons body plummeting towards the swamp. As the Great Wyrm gold dragon ascends into the cloudline there is a colossal crack of thunder and hissing as the sky lights up with an array of lightening forks, cascading through the cloudline, and a red fiery glow... a moment later the Gold Dragon falls, body broken, scales and wings blasted clean off.
Ceinwen attempts to hit the dragon with a Golden Spear to try to allow for the opportunity for negotiations, but it is already dead, obliterated by whatever force was out of site in the cloudline. She dismounts as she does so, and impacts with the ground hard enough to break her vampiric body into a puff of smoke, and start drifting downwind.

The remaining dragon forces disperse, 3 surviving metallic dragons and 6 surviving Chromatic plus their riding mounts, and the party fly down on their dragons to investigate the swamp where 2 great wyrms and a vampire have hit the dirt. Well, I say they fly down on their dragons: Edgar BECAME a red dragon using a polymorph spell, although he is dwarfed by the dragons he descends alongside.

End of session. 
This campaign will resume after a few sessions of other games have been played, I want some fun gaming not as DM :p. I need a break!

-V

Adventures of moving to the new geekery-pad.

So, last night we planned out the big move. We have moved roughly once every year and a half since 2003 and every time we move, we seem to get less organised and pick up more and more crap. This time around we plan to be organised!

So...
We made a packing and task chart...

Which rooms to start on, what stuff to pack in advance, what tasks need taken care off (e.g cancelling services, changing billing addresses, etc.), the list is crazy and seemingly endless - but feels much more organised. Damn having these exams and some remaining admin to take care of before the move is officially official (i.e we actually get moving and don't just lose some of the deposit by pulling out.) I want to start packing and moving stuff in now!

Anyway, one of the things I am looking forward to the most is actually having a gaming area at last! At the moment if I want to play Warhammer I have to set up a single 2'x6' board on the living room floor or go to a friends house to play there. When running D&D and other P&P RPG's (Captain Acronym today!) we basically gather a couple of rickety old chairs around a big cushion and couch, and place a 2'x2' gaming board on the floor with some miniatures and a stack of dice on.
In the new place - the living room is fairly big, and will only have a couch and a couple of bits of furniture, and the kitchen has a 6-seater table. This gives us choice, and space! I cant wait to get the first game under way!

D&D Campaign: The seal of Akatiel: 11th April - Part 1

The party had previously reached a river and initiated combat with a Dragonne. Forest lines the river on both sides up ahead, and a mountain range can be seen in the distance – the Well of Dragons is said to be nestled amongst these mountains.

The party drains the Dragonnes blood into the river, and the Black coach trundles through the polluted river to the other side, and the party follows the river to the North. There is enough space alongside the river for the Black Coach to comfortably fit. After about an hour of travel, the sun is starting to set again – and the treeline to the east is thinning out... The trees seem limp and lifeless, with no leaves with the bark faded out to a pallid grey-green. Several wild animals litter the ground.

The party goes over to investigate. A stream flows down from the mountains and comes to a stop, draining underground near the main river. All the trees within 50ft of this river are dead, and the trail of the river can clearly be seen snaking right over to the nearest mountain and up the mountainside. The scene is very ambivalent. A beautiful darkening sky over the snow-peaked mountain, the forest all around and then the death and decay surrounding the river. Upon investigating the area they identify that the water is fouled, likely caused by Black Dragons - the water is Toxic and Acidic as hinted at by the dead animals and plantlife in the nearby vicinity. Joe pokes a stick in, and it dissolved in a matter of seconds - he holds it up giggling and just manages to avoid a glob of the liquid dripping onto his bare hand from the stick.

The party follow the river towards its source, it leads out of the woodland and up the slopes of the mountain... After about 500M the river disappears into several springs in the hillside. High above in the darkened sky, a couple of circling flying figures can be seen... The Silhouettes clearly identify them as dragons. One of them goes into a dive, appearing to be diving to a point further up the hill... After a few seconds, it billows out its wings and slows its decent and disappears out of your line of sight. To the party it looks like a young black Dragon. Not a great threat to the party on its own.

Casting invisibility on themselves, the party heads up hill

Egan sends his familiar forth to see if it can identify where the dragon went. He assumes there must be an entrance of some sort to access an underground lair. The bird flies up and circles around for a moment before reporting back via its Empathic Link that there is a couple of structures ahead and that there is a huge hole in the ground between them. The party proceed and after about 20 minutes of climbing up the rocky hillside,they reach a small plateau on the hillside. The Plateau is a couple of hundred ft  around and two wooden frames sit in the middle of it about 40’ apart, between them there is a gaping hole in the ground. Suspended from each wooden frame is a hefty Rope ladder. It looks sturdy enough and of a suitable size for a human to use, but is clearly designed for something of greater stature.

Evictus bounds onto the rope, and Ceinwen decides to climb onto him - and together they begin to descend. Joe follows them down the ladder whilst Egan levitates himself down the chasm beside them and Dreinell decides to just jump.

With a loud crunch Dreinell hits the solid rock floor at the bottom of the chasm, some 75 foot down. A moment later there is some shouting in an unrecognised language and then a couple of lines of acid cut the ropes on either side - on the side that has people climbing down, it causes Evictus and Ceinwen to plummet, but Joe is left hanging from the ladder.

Nobody is badly hurt from the falls, and the party examines their surroundings: A large cavern, made of Hewn stone - cut out of the odd combination of Granite and Limestone that this area of the hill comprises of. The chamber extends to the south where another wooden structure can be made out in the gloom, and tunnels extend to the east and the west. To the east there are two Dragonkin, much like those in the White Dragon lair, but this time they appear to have lizard-like skin. 

Egan floats down points his finger and says "Kapow!" and a dark beam bursts from his hands, narrowly missing one of the beasts and disintegrating a football sized hole in the solid rock behind him. Evictus bounds into the closest guy and initiates combat, whilst Ceinwen and Dreinell pick themselves up from the floor and cast at the two targets. Dreinell inflicting wounds and Ceinwen casting Friend to Foe and turning one of the DragonKin on the other. Joe in a feat of Acrobatic Fail attempts to spin round and dangle from his knees, but loses his grip and narrowly manages to catch the rope as he starts to fall, watching in vain as most of the arrows from his quiver clatter harmlessly onto the cavern floor below, along with a handful of poorly stowed daggers.

The DragonKin fight each other and Evictus. Dreinell inflicts further wounds, Ceinwen whelms the standing target, whilst Joe attempts to hook himself in place, succedes and fires a single arrow shot that misses. Evictus hacks away, and Egan casts Haste on the party.

Evictus and the DragonKin that has Friend to Foe cast on it cut down the injured DragonKin and Ceinwen manages to convince the other that they are not enemies. It stops fighting and looks at them confused as Joe makes a long jump from the rope onto the ground, tumbles up behind him and performs two viscious critting sneak attacks that kill him.

The party quickly check the bodies for loot and retrieve a number of items (loot at end), then head to the next chamber downwards. This one is about 100ft deep, and again Dreinell dives down whilst the others start to climb. The glow of fire can be seen at the bottom. 

With a thunk Dreinell lands, and Ceinwen calls down "Hello, we are friends!" which convinces one of the hidden Mindflayers to step out from hiding to speak. 

The party shuffle down and as soon as they are on the ground they all get hit with a Mind Blast from a powerful Illithid Sorceror, knocking Egan unconscious. They also notice the Gold Orb sat on a pedestal in the corner of the cavern. Evictus notices the ground being disturbed by the invisible Sorceror and charges over, but fails to hit it - it then retalliates and manages to land two of its tentacles on him and grapples him to the ground, ready to suck his brains out. Joe comes over and starts poking wildly into the fray, but fails to do any damage. 

Joe himself gets flanked by another mind flayer who fails to hit him, Dreinell inflicts wounds and Ceinwen convinces the Minflayer that is not fighting to reveal himself and dispels the invisibility on the Sorceror. The melee continues, with Evictus breaking free from the MindFlayers grip and giving it a powerful whack from his Sword as Joe proceeds with a hasted backstab flurry (x5) against the sorceror, dropping it in a flurry of damage and constitution draining.

Ceinwen convinces the remaining flayer to stop attacking and sleight of hands the orb off the pedestal as Joe slays the freshly convinced mind flayer in another flurry of sneak attacks.

As Ceinwen lifts the orb up, two large glowing orbs are seen in a cavern to the east, which quickly grow and the form of a Gargantuan Black dragon emerges from the chamber, swooping towards Ceinwen who just picked up the orb. She yells "we are friends" to the Dragon who pauses in confusion. She tries to convince him that the party is more powerful but he assesses the party as no threat, but plays it safe since he believes the bluff and offers an allegiance. On a tenuous acceptance, he grabs the entire party in his claws and scrabbles up the exit tunnels and out into the open air. A number of large - huge Black Dragons start spewing forth from the hole in the ground behind them. In the distance they can see a number of shadowy specs on the horizon, growing larger, and a few of the party members think that they spot another dragon high overhead, with multiple heads - but when they look again, there is nothing to be seen.

>End of session<

Loot:

Amulet of health +2 <+2 con>
Scroll of Phase Door
Ring of climbing
Potion of greater magic weapon +3
Potion of Water Walk
2x Potion of Hide from Undead
2x Potion of cure serious wounds
Masterwork Silver Dagger
Bag of holding I

-V

D&D Campaign: The seal of Akatiel: 3rd April 2011. (Pt 2.)

The party moved fast. Cassie informed them that they need to make their way to the Well of Dragons and find the Black Dragon lair there and retrieve the Golden Dragon Orb.

The party ask Cassie to fetch Ceinwen's coach from Velgoth, where they were before they teleported to Willow, whilst they headed across the isle to the port town to the north where they have a reclaimed Battleship in dock. They set sail for Waterdeep, anchor their ship and head out the SouthEast gate, onto the Sword Coast Highway, where they meet up with the Black Coach that Cassie delivered. The coach is essential for this leg of the journey as it protects Ceinwen from the harsh daylight. Her amulet works well enough but only for short periods of time, and the journey to the Well could take several days.

The party proceed with their travels, and after a couple of hours come across a hamlet called WatersDale. Out of sheer boredom they decide to have a little fun...

Watersdale - A hamlet near Waterdeep, on the Sword Coast Highway.

The party pull up outside the inn in the center of town and head in... Inside there is 3 guys and a young girl, and two people behind the bar. A man and a woman tend the bar. The young girl takes one look at the disguised Ceinwen and tries to get her dad to leave, and runs off when he waves her off. She runs out the door, followed subtly by Joe...

Evictus, Egan and Dreinell walk up to the bar and ask for the strongest drink, which the barkeep introduces as "Waterdavian Death Brew" - a 91% alcohol beverage. Virtually poison, and highly flammable, if you can get an ignition source to it before it evaporates. Ceinwen asks him what he has to eat, and convinces him to take her through to the kitchen... where she feasts. On him.

Evictus, Egan and Dreinell take their first taste of the drink. Evictus enjoys, feeling slightly intoxicated within moments, Egan only managed to hold it down for a few seconds before throwing up all over the barmaid, and Dreinell drinks it unaffected. Evictus jokingly holds a lit tindertwig to Dreinells lips when he takes another swig, and the fumes ignite. Dreinell spits the drink out which goes all over the bar-maid, setting her hair on fire. She runs into the kitchen and dives head first into the sink, with a loud splash and hiss. She sits there sobbing with her face in the sink whilst the others laugh. Watching from the other side of the kitchen, Ceinwen has the owner entwined in her arms, draining him off blood...
The 3 guys in the bar look a little uneasy at the show that is going on, or the fact the bar is now on fire. One of them stands up to protest as Evictus draws his sword and cuts him cleanly in two, embedding his blade in the wall.
The other two guys jump onto Dreinell and Egan, who after a moments struggling, kill them with Phantasmal Killers.

A few houses away Joe sneaks into the window of  the living room where the little girl is sitting with a dolly in front of the fire, shaking, whilst her mother sits nearbye in a chair... Joe slips his blade through the back of her chair, killing her instantly as the blade passes through the back of her spine and up into her skull. He then cleaves a gouge out her chest showering the little girl in blood - who just sits there in horror. Joe suggestively whispers "They come in the night"... as he slips out the door, concealed by the shadows. The little girl looses it and starts wandering about muttering "they come in the night, they come in the night..."

Dreinell wanders outside into the square and sits on the bench as the rest of the party start going Door to door and wiping out the town, and driving any children they discover completely insane. By the time they finish, Evictus has pushed over a building, and sniped half a family down with his new bow, Dreinell has cloud killed a family that Ceinwen sent on a wander with a hypnotic light spell, Joe had killed 3 families then stumbled upon a sickly looking abandoned puppy, and killed a mage. They leave the town with a statue of themselves and half a dozen insane children, who are walking around coated in blood and muttering incoherently.

They proceed to do this to another 4 villages on their travel along the sword coast - hoping to create rumors of "The Sword coast massacre" - even if they have to spread them themselves!

When they get to Triel, they leave the path, and head directly east looking for a river that drains down from the mountains by the Well of Dragons. When they reach the river they get ambushed by a Large Dragon-like creature, but quickly slay it, and stop for a rest.

>>End of session<< 

D&D Campaign: The seal of Akatiel: 3rd March 2011. (Pt 1.)

Map of this sessions adventure. Click to embiggen!

The mad mental evilness that is the evil actions of an evil party at a hamlet they get bored at...

My intent for this entry is to try to give a better representation of the party's adventure for the evening so: que pictures! :)

Present last night were:

Egan - Human Sorcerer

Dreinell - Human Lich/Dread Necromancer

Evictis - Human Warrior (Werewolf.)

Ceinwen - Half-Elven Beguiler (Vampire)

Joe Kerr - Human Rogue/Assassin

The party started off meeting up outside the Palace at Veloth on the isle of Ruathym.

It had been an eventful night. Most of Veloth had been hit with Drow raiders - the bulk of which hit the Palace where most of the party was staying. A scattering of other scouts hit throughout the town, many drow, guards and civilians lay dead in the streets, blood flowing along the roadside like rainwater. It can be assumed that this was another group chasing the Orbs that the party holds. Joe bumped into one of them when scouting out a house to commit some unspeakable horrors in, Ceinwen who was resting in the bowels of the Tushieclaw Manor whilst turning to a Vampire nearly got attacked but the others at the coven protected her in her weakened state. 

During the fight outside the palace an underground cavern with a treasure horde within was discovered when the Umberhulks tunneled up to the fight, and Dreinell, Evictus and Egan were counting out the loot on the lawn  as Joe wanders up and joins in, and Ceinwen trundles up in a Black Coach that she was gifted from her friend Sally who runs the Tushieclaw Manor when she chose to become a vampire and part of the coven.

The party take great interest in the Black Coach, inspecting its steeds and the cavernous interior with its one-way windows that keep out sunlight and the level IV Bag-of-holding-storage-locker. Whilst they are doing this, Percy the Piemaker is stuffing the bag of holding full of Pies, and Ceinwen starts to recieve a message... it is Willow. She is wanting to know why they have not returned with the Silver Orb yet, and needs them to return ASAP as the next phase of the Orb retrieval process is about to go into effect.

The party agree to go ahead, even though they are not sure if they want to work with the "good guys", and use the rod of recall.

When they use the rod they appear in a large circular chamber lined with windows. Outside, it is dusk, but they can still see most of the island that is not blocked off by hills – they are at the top of Willows tower. Myrengrad sits peacefully down below, and the keep is looking in better shape than ever – bristling with armaments on the roof. A second tower is now visible south of Myrengrad against the coastline.

Willow thanks the party for returning, and asks for the Silver Dragon orb - which Joe reluctantly hands over. Willow takes a moment to place this orb an alter and mutter a brief incantation, causing the orb to loose its sheen, and appears simply like a crystal ball. She puts this on the shelf at the back of the room. Whilst she is doing this a tall beautiful human female with silvery blonde hair walks in, smiling at them. She curtseys before them and thanks them for looking after her in her weakened state. It is Cassie.

Willow turns round then mutters *oh.. no...* And start to wobble and lose her balance. The entire building seems to phase in and out of reality, exposing the long fall to the ground below them as it becomes transparent. Cassie reaches her arms round the entire party and willow, forming into giant scaley clawed limbs before the building phases out entirely and the party starts to feel gravity take hold as they accelerate towards the ground. Cassie morphs into a large silver dragon and her wings unfold stopping the descent as she then gracefully swoops upwards into the air, and flies the party over to the keep, perching on the roof. The workers and guards get a shock at the sight, and the guards train the ballistas on the dragon before they spot the party. Cassie places them down, and returns to human form, but this time she has a scared looking red/gold furred squirrel perched on her shoulder.

She looks at the party... "The next ritual is beginning..."

D&D Campaign: The Seal of Akatiel Part 6.

The party, having collected what they can from the basement decide to head up to the 1st floor to see if they can find the scepter for the mayor. Cassie follows, staying close to Tsavong.

In single file they climb the dark spiral staircase back to the ground floor, and move along to the spiral staircase leading to the first floor. Karnezer takes point and marches up the staircase, the rest of the party in toe, and heads east down the corridor - Joe scanning the floor for traps. Spotting an arrow trap and a trip wire connected to a large Axe dangling from the ceiling - Joe and Ceinwen spot all the traps laid out before them.

The first room they reach is a games room. There is some rather ornate items in the room. An obsidian and marble chess board, some sort of wooden floor with a wooden ball and some objects stacked at the bottom, some fancy throwing darts and some marble balls that Joe decides are a juggling set.

Moving down the corridor some more they enter another storage room with some Gnolls in. The party charge blindly into the room - not spotting a couple of Kobolds hiding in the dark who get some nasty shots in with their crossbows before they are cut down like the Gnolls soon are. 

The remaining room in this area is bare, but a keen eye spots a small pouch of gold wedged in a crack in the floor.

The party then heads round to the balcony that overlooks the dining room on the West side of the keep. Joe steps into a pit trap, but manages to not fall in. The next one is spotted and the party avoids it. The floor is becoming increasingly carpeted in vermin... rats, spiders, cockroaches – they litter this corridor, their skittering and screeches disturbing and sickening. They appear to be  coming from within the room ahead. Karn kicks open the door to the room with one swift whallop of his boot heel. It is the master bedroom - a large four poster bed covered in red bedsheets, surrounded with white drapes sits in the center, some wardrobes and dressers line the room. A body can be seen just to the side of the bed, clad in black leather, covered in cockroaches and spiders - holding an ornate silver object.

The party step into the room and Ceinwen accidentally triggers a booby trap in the doorway. The trap triggers a set of crossbows attached to the bed, one arrow impacts into Dreinell's chest, and another flies towards Ceinwen who gracefully evades the shot for it to be dodged and caught by Tsavong Lah just as it was about to connect with Cassies forehead. 

The insect swarms lunge and skitter towards the group, overwhelming some of the members biting, scratching, nibbling, and making everyone feel nauseous, but they are despatched in quick succession, the only person really njured is Joe when he decides to go bounce on the bed – and attracts the attention of a nearby spider swarm who inject a fair amount of poison into his blood stream sapping his strength.

The party loots the room, finding a pouch of gems under a pillow in the bed, and the sceptre, which is laying on the corpse of the rogue that must have previously sealed himself into this room, and booby trapped the entrance.

Whilst the party is planning what to do next, Cassie seems to space out. Her face drains of blood and staring off into the distance, she pulls out a pouch of small bones from her pocket, and empties its contents onto the floor... She looks up at the party 

“You are all in great danger... especially you” she says pointing, at Ceinwen and collapsing on the floor unconscious.

Whilst the party stand about contemplating their actions, an huge explosion in the distance rocks their eardrums and gets their attention... out the windows, over by Myrengrad there is a large fireball erupting from the slum area of Myrengrad... 

-V

D&D Campaign: The Seal of Akatiel Part 5(2).

As the party enters the first corridor, a bunch of Kobolds jump out of the room and unload crossbows into the party. Kernezer reacts by charging right at them... and falling down a spiked pit-trap in the center of the corridor. 


Tsavong Lah leaps past into the fray, along with Joe, whilst the ranged pummel the kobolds with spell and arrow. The lead kobold retreats into the previous room - a dining room. Karnezer takes a few seconds to get to grips with the side of the pit-trap but manages to jump high enough to get a grip and pull himself out. As the rest of the kobolds fall, the party chase him into the room - but cant see him. They stalk around the room which consists of a few storage units, a large dining table - set for dinner with some dusty crockery and sconces a couple of dumb waiters on the northern wall, and a balcony running along the eastern wall above the entrance... Whilst searching the room an arrow is unleashed from the dumb waiter before it disappears into the bowels of the keep... The party decide it would be wise not to jump down in single file after him, and peruse the room... both Kernezer and Joe eye up the candlesticks and assuming they are worthless (both rolled natural 1 with appraisal rolls) Joe decides to pocket one for his own devices... He lobs it at the back of Karnezers head when he isn't looking and hides, giggling. 


The rest of the ground floor of the keep is cleared out in short order - servant quarters and a storage room are checked but are uninhabited - so the party heads towards the basement.


Tsavong takes points going down the stairwell, flanked by Joe, trying to stay out of the light of his torch. Once down the stairs, a corridor leads to the right, into a kitchen area that is lit by a couple of torches and a lit cooking pot.


Spotting something dart into the shadows, Tsavong extinguishes the torch and Joe attempts to sneak ahead to get a better look and position for an ambush, but instead triggers a trap - the roof drops down, crushing him to near death. Silly rogue.


Joe is helped out from under the section of roofing, and quickly quaffs a healing potion as Tsavong and Karn move on ahead into the darkness beyond the kitchen - an earthen floored unlit storage area lies ahead. With a fizzle of light, some magic missiles hit Karn from a figure at the back of the room, and he charges in, grappling the caster - before he notices that there is more than one target here. A kobold Cleric, Mage, a couple of skirmishers and some giant spiders lay in waiting. 


The party charge in, hurling spells and fists into the waiting foes, quickly sending them back to whence they came.


Searching the room, they find Cassie laying eviscerated, but still breathing in the corner. Liana and Ceinwen rush over to assist, and heal the majority of her wounds. The rest of the group search the basement - finding a door to a room with some tombs in, a tunnel dug up into the South Eastern corner of the basement, light faintly emanating from deeper within, and Ceinwen spots a secret door on the South West wall.


Entering the room they find an armoury, with a large chest as its centerpiece. Disarming the archaic arrow trap protecting it, Joe opens it to reveal the treasures within: an entire chest filled with Mithril goods. Mainly elven armour, but also a few weapons and a headband are found within.


The party checks the new armour and then don it - finding it as light, as the armour they were wearing, but offering so much more protection, and it is very lightweight, fitting comfortably under their normal clothes for the most part.


Tsavong returns the candlestick to Joe via aerial assault, and then joins everyone in heading upstairs in search for the scepter. 

D&D Campaign: The Seal of Akatiel Part 5.

It has been a while since my last installment on this campaign:
The party commences its trip back to the surface. They back track along the flooded tunnel, and make their way back into the entrance ante-chamber, only to find that there is water now flowing into the room from outside. A distant flicker of light can be seen coming down the entrance-tunnel, followed by a loud rumble of thunder, and although it is sheltered, everyone decides that they would rather be up near the surface than deep underground and at risk of being caught in a flood.

In single file, they make their way back up the long passage, the rocks slick with the rainwater trickling down. a few more lightning discharges and they are nearing the surface. From a recess in the wall near the entrance, Cassie steps out behind the party, and greets them, asking if they found her Dolly. Tsavong holds forth body of her sister, and the Dolly. Cassie snatches the Dolly from his grasp and cheers, and hugs him thanking him for returning it, completely ignoring the body.


The group step out of the entrance to the tunnel and are faced with a dark, windy and rainy night, the rain beats hard down upon their armour and the party start making their way back to town - Cassie on tow.


As they walk accross an open area, some movement can be seen in some bushes to the left - and it doesnt appear to be rain.


A moment later, half a dozen goblins break cover, several of them charging at the party and the others sitting back and firing their crossbows into the group. After a brief scuffle, which involves Karnezer destroying the keg of ale he has been carrying from the dungeon whilst crushing a Goblin beneath it, the party make haste and double time it to the town gates.


There is no resistance to their entrance, the guard simply greet the party from their watch posts, and let them through. A long central road runs East through the town from the gates right over to the Town hall - on either side there is a blacksmith, a general store, an tavern, a stables and a magic shop. A few smaller paths lead north and south off of this to the more residential areas. 


Cassie leads the Tsavong straight to her fathers hut in the southern, poorer part of the village. (It should be pointed out that Tsavong has a character trait where he tends to shift alignment every day at random - and today he is Lawful Good...) Whilst the rest of the party head to the tavern, Tsavong knocks on the door of a dank and sodden straw thatched hut that he is lead to, and a frail and elderly man answers the door. 


"Ucle Bailen!" Cassie yells and jumps forward to hug him.


Tsavong hands over the corpse of the other girl, and the uncle sits down in despair. He mentiones the death of his wife the previous winter, and that girls have had to endure much, but he is thankful that the body could be returned. As he goes to rummage for a reward for the party, Tsavong halts him and hands over a pouch of coins containing 400 Gold Pieces, and tells Bailen to make a better life for Cassie. Bailen is pleased at this show of generosity, and Tsavong bows and returns to the rest of the party at the inn.


After drying off by the fire and a nice mug of ale each, the party head back into the rain, to search through the shops to see what equipment they can buy. Oddly they are all open - likely due to the oppertunity to get new customers, this is a small fishing village after all - the oppertunity to sell adventurer gear and magical equipment does not come often.


A large blacksmith sits opposite the inn, and some of the more melee oriented party members go take a look and buy some upgrades off of Asadas the gnome. Some others head over to a round white hit, that has a picket fence around its garden and a couple of blooming Willow tree's in front of it. Willows magic emporium. 


Entering the shop, there are clothes racks around the floor, shelves with potions and strange items on and behind a desk filled with ornate Jewellery there stands a white haired elf who looks by human standards to be in her mid twenties. She is flanked by a couple of large metallic statues wielding maces. The party assume these to be Golems and decide it would be in their interests to behave whilst in here.


Several items are bought, and a few are ordered for Willow to craft through the night. The party then heads over to the Town Hall where a receptionist directs them through a door at the rear of the lobby where they find the Mayor, Delrick, a rotund man with a fuzzy half-beard, who is sitting at a table having a feast, shovelling handfulls of food into his mouth. He nonchalantly acknowledges the group whilst devouring a plump greasy chicken leg.


Joe waltzes up to the table and starts gnawing upon another chicken leg, smiling at Delrick, who rolls his eyes and signals for the party to sit down and help themselves, which they happily do. 


After some inquisition about an old keep that they can see in the lower hills behind the town, they find out that it is abandoned, and has been for a hundred years, and is called Mithrall keep. The mayor upon finding the party is interested in checking it out offers them some coin in exchange for an ornate sceptre that should be found somewhere in the keep.


Everyone returns to the inn for some rest, having decided they want to go inspect Mithrall keep in the morning.


During the night some commotion can be heard momentarily outside... Peeking through the window outside Dreinell and Ceinwen spot some movement down near the allotments in the poorer part of town... Goblins. More can be seen skulking over by the blacksmiths.


Everyone grabs their gear and run outside, and start attacking the Goblins. A couple of them can be seen making off with a small humanoid to the south, and Bainlen comes bursting out of his hut swinging a mace at one. The party help rescue him and he begs for them to return his daughter. A few remaining Goblins can be seen fighting with members of the town watch, but are no match.


Tsavong tracks the girls footprints through the town to the school that lies beside the Town Hall. Entering the building they see the tracks lead to a back wall where they seem to disappear. Joe manages to open a secret passageway that leads under the school and out of the town. The party follow the tracks out of the town bounds, and north, losing them momentarily at a stream but picking them back up on the other side... They clearly lead to the keep. "Two birds with one stone" the party think, and head to a pathway that cuts its way into the rocky hillside.

As the party traverse the path, Joe and Ceinwen take the higher ground to the left, staying atop the rock face whilst the rest of the party march along the path below. As they near the keep they can see that it is a bit delapidated with a few decaying sections of castellation. A large gong is placed next to the main entranceway into the keep. Ceinwen and Joe climb down the rock face and rejoin the party at the entranceway, which just happens to be open a crack.


Peeking through the gap in the open door Joe can make out several bipedal hyena like creatures crouched around a fire. Gnolls. He signals to the party who burst through the doorway and charge into the room, easily dispatching them with a combination of spells and swords.


The reception room has three doors - the left one that leads to the library, the right one that leads to a cloakroom and the one opposite the entranceway that leads to the rest of the keep. The party open this door and inspect the corridor ahead... 

Hystericlees and Dragons Part 2

Took me a few days to get round to it, but lets finish this thing!

Round 5:

Evictus: Evictus starts advancing towards the Drow Ranger at the rear

Drow Sorceror: Attempts to FeebleMind Edgar but Edgar passes his Will save.

Drow Ranger: Stepping back, fires a volley of arrows at Evictus, dealing a chunk of damage before the inevitable charge.

Dreinell: Attempts to bestow curse on the Sorceror but fails to slay him.

Edgar: Take a moment to pop another potion to get some health back.

Umberhulk: In a surprise move, the ground beneath Dreinell gives way as two hulking big claws rip through the earth and pull him in.

Round 6:

Evictus: Charges the drow ranger about ripping him in twain on the charge.

Drow Sorceror: Re-attempts to Feeblemind 

Drow Ranger: Stepping back, casts Darkness around him and Evictus

Dreinell: Passes a concentration check to cast his last Phantasmal Killer the Umberhulk, but fails to drop him

Edgar: Floats over to the hole in the ground where Edgar was attacked by the Umberhulk: and hovers into it, out of sight from the Drow Sorceror, and uses his final Phantasmal Killer on the Umberhulk, but fails to kill it - but does deal a chunk of damage from it failing its will save.

Umberhulk: The umberhulk proceeds to bite another chunk out of the Lich/Dread Necromancer

Round 7:

Evictus: Sniffs the air intently, and stepping forward through the darkened shroud, raises up his sword and brings it down, lopping the torso of the Ranger in Two, and mutters "Sheen!"

Drow Sorceror: With no currently visible target, he steps out of the line of sight of evictus behind a building.

Dreinell: Passes a concentration check and decides to try out a relatively new spell in his arsenal: Finger of Death - pokes the Umberhulk in the eye and instantly kills it

Edgar: Focuses intently, grasps Dreinells hand and Teleports them over to the Sorceror - but misjudges the landing spot and appears a few feet further back than intended.

Round 8:

Evictus: Picking up the dead Drow's Composite longbow and a fire arrow, he steps out of the darkness, lines up a shot and fires onto the Sorceror who he can see sticking out from behind the building... But he misses... The arrow hits the wall... bursts through the wall, then bursts through the wall behind and impacts the sorceror in the shoulder, about dropping him (double critical confirmed - 6d8 +1d6 +18 damage... (double crit effect under my rules.)

Drow Sorceror: Flanked by the dread necromancer and the Hybris werewolf warrior, he decides to move to a better spot, and teleports himself onto the roof of the Palace.

Dreinell: Spotting the mage teleport onto the roof draws his bow and launches a volley of magic missiles into the Sorceror, but doesnt do much damage.

Edgar: Points floats up for a better line of sight and aims his finger at the Sorceror, and with a mutter of "Kerpow!" launcher a volley of magic missiles that send him hurtling from the rooftop into a flowerbed below. He blows on his finger tip and turns around to smile at Dreinell.

At the end of round 8 - another Drow is seen rounding the corner into the gardens...

Round 9:

Evictus: Aims his bow at the new target, and unleashes a volley of arrows at him, hitting and lightly wounding him.

Drow Ranger: Steps forward and uses his multishot ability to hit Edgar with a couple of fire arrows, nearly dropping him. The Rangers Spider gallops forth to attack the two casters next round.

Dreinell: Spots the approaching spider, points his finger and kills it instantly with another insta-kill spell.

Edgar: Fires off a volley of magic missiles at the new target, finishing it off.

Drow Assassin: Makes a surprise attack against Evictus and attempts to knock hi out with his Death Attack - but misses (by 1!) 

Round 10:

Drow Assassin: Having the bead on his victim, perforates him with several sneak attacks from his Frost Rapier.

Evictus: Spins to counter attack the assassin landing a blow or two but only doing a little damage.

Dreinell: Once more he points his finger out and casts an instant-killy spell, dropping the Assassin.

Combat ends.

The party proceed to pile the bodies up in a heap in the yard for burning, and gather what treasures they can find. Upon exploring the two holes left by the drow, they also find a hidden chamber under the gardens containing numerous items of artwork - from tankards to silver swords, and several Wondrous Items...